collins



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

E. COLLINS. SAFETY ELEVATOR EEAKE.

(No Model.)

No. 559,569. Patented May 5,1896.

ZUZ ZWEQ 55195:

E -W all/M6.

ANDREW B GRAHAM PHOTO UVHQWASNINGYONJC 2 sum-sneer 2.

(No Model.)

B. COLLINS. SAFETY ELEVATOR BRAKE. No. 559,569. Patented May 5, 1896.

4% a I 1 I] I 1 9 c r 6 l I I J I 1 g i 3 1 y| X 7.- II" & 2?" JZ JE 5 a5655'7065565: L lave/7223);";

.li dLv. 621/3216, NLZ' ro 622 71371 6! WA I L Y fi /Orney JNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

EDW'ARD COLLINS, OF NE YORK, N. Y.

SAFETY ELEVATOR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 559,569, dated May 5,1896.

Application filed ober 16,1895. $erial No. 565,920. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD OoLLINs, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of New York'city, county and State of New York, have inventeda new and useful Improvement in Safety Elevator Brakes, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in safety-brakes for elevator-cars;and it consists in anovel combination of brake mechan' ism and compoundlevers for operating the same on occasion and clamping the brakeshoespowerfully to the guide-rails on which the car traverses, in conjunctionwith a rope, cord, or chain ordinarily moving with the car, butcontrolled by a governor and trip and clamp mechanism, which onlyoperates when an accident occurs to greatly accelerate the motion of thecar. The said governor and stationary trip and clamp mechanism I haveillustrated and described for the sake of perspicuity; but my claims toinvention are herein confined to the brake mechanism borne on thetraversing car.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Ihave shown, in Figure 1, a side view of my improvement.

'Fig. 2 is a plan view, partly in section; and

Fig. 3 is an end view. Fig. 4: is a front view of the elevator-car withthe vertical guideposts and guide rails or runners, showing my devicesecured beneath the car to the bottom timbers thereof, also therunning-rope by which the safety device is operated. Fig. 4. is a viewof a governor, trip, and clamping device by which the safety mechanismmay be brought into action. Fig. 5 is a detail view of a convenient formof governor which may be employed for the purpose.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, which illustrate my specificimprovement, B represents a portion of the elevator-car, to the bottomtimber A of which the operating parts of my safety-brake attachment aresecurely bolted on the under side thereof. D D are hollow head-blocksfirmly secured to the timber A, one at each end. (Shown in section.) e 6illustrate members of the compound clamping-levers pivoted within thehead-blocks. G G are the long lever members of the compoundclamping-levers, also pivoted within the head-blocks. f f are thebrake-shoes carried by the clamping-plates e e and pivoted thereto.These brake-shoes engage with the vertical guide-runners and compressthe same between their faces when the safety device is called intooperation. The faces may be grooved or roughened to promote adhesion, if

desired. By the pivotal connection between the brake-shoes and theclamping members or short levers the former are enabled to adjustthemselves in position to the vertical surface of the guide-runners, soas to secure contact of the entire surface. f denotes a spring thepurpose of which is to keep the outer ends of the clamping-plates e eaway from each other when the lever J is in its ers 70 70, as shown, forthe purpose of reducing friction. S S are two guide-plates provided withslots, as shown in Fig. 3, through which suitable securing-bolts passinto webs .9, formed on each head-b1ock. This enables them to beadjusted. o w are springs employed to prevent the lever J from beingaccidentally operated by the check-rope and to retain the levers intheir normal position. 6 denotes a pin or bolt which drops down afterthe lever J is drawn out, asshown in dotted lines, Fig. 2. The object ofthis construction is to prevent the lever-J from returning to its normalcondition if by any chance the rope 'r' should break after theoperating-lever J has been drawn out, as shown in said dotted lines;

- Referring to Figs. 4 and 5, which are introduced merely for purposesof illustration, to show an operative device, 13 is a front view of theelevator-car, showing my device at tached to its bottom timbers. C C arethe vertical guide-posts, and OOthe guide-runners on which thebrake-shoes simultaneously operate when in action. 0" is therunning-rope,

made fast to the car at one end, as at 0, Fig. i, passing downward overthe tension-sheave F and upward over the governor-pulley, and thenceover pulley r to the long arm q of lever J, as shown in Fig. 2. The roper is thus seen to travel with the car under ordinary circumstances, andhas no special function until arrested, in case of accident, by theoperation of the clamp M. E is the upper framework of the building,supporting the governor H and pulley attached, over which the rope rtraverses. N is a standard carrying a rocking trip 4, which may be ofany convenient form, its office being to sustain the rod L, supportingthe lever-arm P and weight K until tripped by the action of the governorH. The operation of this portion of the mechanism, to which I lay noclaim in this application, is as follows: Upon the breaking of the maincable, which supports the elevator in its travels, the rope 0, whichtravels with the elevatorcar, accelerates the motion of the governor,which is so arranged that its accelerated movement springs the trip 4,which in turn lets drop the rod L and with it the lever-arm P and weightK. This operates the clamp M, arresting the movement of the rope r, andthereby causing a sudden pull with a force proportioned to the weightand momentum of the car upon the lever J, to which it is attached. Thisis communicated through the com pound-lever system to the brake-shoesff,to produce the desired effect. The governor may be arranged to producethe trip in any well-known manner to cause the desired result. As I haveshown it for purposes of illustration merely, the weighted arms 2 2(shown in Fig. 5) are forcibly thrown outward against the tension of thesprings 3 3 by the centrifugal force due to the increased velocity, andin their expansion come into contact with the lever-arm of the trip 4;but this may be varied ad infinitum to suit the pleasure of thedesigner.

The specific operation of my device will now be described. When thetravel of the rope r is suddenly arrested by the action of the governorand trip mechanism, as aforesaid, a strong pull is communicated tolever-arm q of the lever J, to which the said rope r, passing overpulley r, is attached, and this instantly moves the said lever-armoutward against the tension of the spring 4;. Motion is therebytransmitted through the chain of compound levers to the brake-shoes f f,which are simultaneously constricted toward each other, embracing theguide-runners in their jaws, and thus arresting the downward movement ofthe car.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a safety-brake for elevators, in combination with a running-rope7', controlled by a governor, trip, and clamping mechanism, acompound-lever system comprising lever J having long arm q and shortarms as m, n, levers G G, clamping-levers e e and pivoted brake-shoes ff, acting upon the guiderunners O O to clamp the same when operated byunusual stress upon the rope 0", substantially as specified.

2. In a safety-brake for elevators, the headblocks D D, theclamping-levers e e, pivoted within the said head-blocks, brake-shoesff, pivoted to the said clamping-levers, one on each side of theguide-runners, lever J, having arms m, n and q, levers G G, pivotedwithin the head-blocks, having short arms acting in opposite directionson the arms of the clamping-levers e 6, long arms P P, acted on inopposite directions by the short arms m n of the lever J, and rope r,substantially as specified.

3. In a safety-brake for elevators, a pair of clamping-levers as e e,pivoted in headblocks D D, carrying brake-shoes as ff, pivoted thereto,which engage with the guiderunner, and compound levers acting upon thesaid clamping-levers to compress the brakeshoes through the medium of arope, cord or chain '1", when an unusual strain occurs upon the latterthrough the accelerated motion of the car downward, substantially asspecified.

4. In a safety-brake for elevators, the combination of head-block D,adjustable guideplates S, held to webs s, clamping-levers e e, carryingpivoted brake-shoes f f, lever G acting upon the said clamping-leverssimultaneously to compress the brake-shoes, and pivoted lever J, havingshort arm m acting on the long arm of lever G, and long arm q acted uponby the rope or chain 2', when strain ocours in the said rope orcl1ain,all substantially as specified.

5. In a safety-brake for elevators, the combination of the head-block D,guide-plates S, clamping-levers e e, brake-shoes ff, lever G acting uponthe said clamping-levers simultaneously to operate the brake-shoes,lever J, having arm m acting upon long-arm lever G, and arm q acted uponby the rope or chain 1', when strain occurs in the said rope or chain,substantially as specified.

6. I11 a safety-brake for elevators,the clamping-levers e e, pivoted inhead-block D, carrying pivoted brake-shoes f f, which engage with theguide-runner, in combination with double-acting lever G, operatingsimultaneously in opposite directions on the clampinglevers; lever J,and rope r, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname, in presence of two witnesses, this 23d day of September, 1895.

EDWARD COLLINS.

lVitnesses:

I. N. ROGERS, T. J. VAIL.

